With the huge swell of interest in 2009, the number of participant places available on development perspectives doubled. Two eight month development education projects commenced in April, with the pre-departure phase based at our usual venue, Sonairte Ecology Centre, Laytown. Participants from Derry, Monaghan, Dublin, Meath and Louth came together on a journey of understanding development not just from their own perspective but from the perspective of the group and that of the Tanzanians they were yet to encounter. The first phase centered on getting to know each other/teambuilding/intercultural learning/understanding of development and development education/ theory based workshops on specific issues and challenges of development/political history of Tanzania/health/travel and logistics. The final weekend residential was based in Enniskerry, Co.Wicklow. With the groups well acquainted it was time for the overseas phase. Both projects were based in Tanzania. One was based in the dry, dusty village of Mwanga, located approximately an hour from the bustling well known tourist town of Arusha. They settled into their basic accommodation at a school for the deaf, where they were introduced to four new Tanzanian participants from our partner organisation, UVIKUITA. Workshops continued on a daily basis examining issues of gender inequality, sustainability, trade agreements, the role of media and stereo typing in development and poverty/greed. The Mwanga team also contributed four hours a day physical labour - building the foundations of a local primary school. This workcamp project was chosen by the community and UVIKUITA. Participants had an opportunity to visit a number of local co-operatives such as a woman’s pottery project in the mountains and a HIV/Aids support centre. The final few days were spent camping in the Savannah land, North of Arusha with the Maasai tribe from the village of Arkaria. 

The second group was based in the lush green village of Mwika at the foot of Kilimanjaro where they were introduced to four new Tanzanian participants. The Mwika team continued their exploration of development issues on a daily basis and contributed four hours a day to the renovation of a local maternity ward. The accommodation was a simple house set close to the centre of the village with five small bedrooms where the group bunked down together every evening. Everyone got a turn at preparing the daily meals on an outdoor stove fuelled by charcoal and sticks. The team visited an organisation set up by local woman to look after the many orphaned children of their community. A demonstration was given of the “coffee process” from picking to drinking and they even had the opportunity to hike up a small part of Kilimanjaro to splash in the cool waters of a beautiful waterfall. Similar to the Mwanga group, the last three nights of the overseas phase was spent camping with the Maasai in the Savannah land. This experience offered the group once again a very different view of sustainability and development. Some of the direct development challenges that the Maasai face were discussed such as privatisation of land and climate change.         

On returning to Ireland the two groups were reunited in Sonairte for the third phase from September to November. All eight Tanzanians were afforded the opportunity to make the return visit to Ireland and participate in a collective effort to piece together an interactive exhibition that would communicate to the wider public through music, photos, video, role-play and words the key learning from their experiences throughout the programme. The exhibition was held in Drogheda Art Centre, November 5th 2009. Dorothy Toomann, our guest speaker was invited from Liberia to share her insights. The evening proved to be a huge success and many of last years participants have gone on to involve themselves further as activists in the field of development.